I understand the invisible hand. That's fine. Capitalism works to an extent. But it unfortunately makes an assumption that I really wish were true. It assumes that people aren't greedy assholes.

Actually it doesn't.

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Originally Posted by BR

How many corporations have put people in harm's way because it would be cheaper to settle a lawsuit than correct a problem?

How many governments have put people in harms way for mere political reasons? Shit the governments of this world have killed or injured more people throughout history than all of the corporations of the world.

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Originally Posted by BR

Those that made the decisions involving the Ford Pinto should have been incarcerated.

Now, as far as corporate involvement in healthcare. Every penny that is skimmed off the top to line the pockets of shareholders is a penny not spent on the care of the patient. The health of the patient is the #1 goal, or at least it should be. Corners cannot be cut. But insurance companies are well known for their deny-first attitude when it comes to claims because the health of the patient is nowhere near #1. They are driven by greed. My best friend would not be consistently fucked over by his two health insurance companies, prompting a multi-billion dollar lawsuit put forth by the state of California if my best friend's health were the #1 concern.

No. They shouldn't be forced to break even. They shouldn't have to take in any money at all. Walk into a clinic, get what you need, leave. That's the human, compassionate way to deal with healthcare. That's the Christian way to deal with healthcare. WHY THE FUCK IS THE ATHEIST ALWAYS THE ONE WHO ALWAYS HAS TO POINT THIS OUT?

These are people's LIVES we are talking about here. Fucking Fuck. Money isn't everything. Stop worshipping at it's fucking altar for two minutes.

Apparently you live in a world where scarcity doesn't exist. Let us know when you return to the real world.

"To be GOVERNED is to be kept in sight, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right, nor the wisdom, nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction, noted, registered, enrolled, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, trained, ransomed, exploited, monopolized, extorted, squeezed, mystified, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, despised, harassed, tracked, abused, clubbed, disarmed, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and, to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality."

After a nearly three-week absence, the Senate is back in session Tuesday in a chamber where time has ground to a halt: It's the same legislative day there that began Jan. 5.

The ruling Democrats have effectively stopped the clock for a reason: They contend that on the Senate's first day in session, its rules can be changed with just 51 votes, rather than the 67 normally needed. And the rules they are trying to change all have to do with the minority's ultimate weapon: the filibuster.

In 1841, when the Democratic minority hoped to block a bank bill promoted by Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, he threatened to change Senate rules to allow the majority to close debate. Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton rebuked Clay for trying to stifle the Senate's right to unlimited debate.

By law (Public Law 101-445, Title III, 7 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), Dietary Guidelines for Americans is reviewed, updated if necessary, and published every 5 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) jointly create each edition.

How much of our tax revenue has our omniscient and benevolent Government spent on this report... 112 glossy pages to say "don't eat so damn much".

State allows employees to increase retirement benefits by buying up to five fictitious years known as 'air time' to add to their public service. Financial advisors call it a great deal for retirees but bad for taxpayers.....

DUH!

無心The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders., Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit__Edward Abbey

The U.S. government has "helped" no group more than it has "helped" the American Indians. It stuns me when President Obama appears before Indian groups and says things like, "Few have been ignored by Washington for as long as Native Americans."

Ignored? Are you kidding me? They should be so lucky. The government has made most Indian tribes wards of the state. Government manages their land, provides their health care, and pays for housing and child care. Twenty different departments and agencies have special "native American" programs. The result? Indians have the highest poverty rate, nearly 25 percent, and the lowest life expectancy of any group in America. Sixty-six percent are born to single mothers.

How many governments have put people in harms way for mere political reasons? Shit the governments of this world have killed or injured more people throughout history than all of the corporations of the world.

You people sicken me with your bitching about the governments that hurt people or killed them throughout history.The only good government is the U.S.A. which has freedom, democracy and free speech. What about England what is wrong with their government. Be happy you are free!

What's the background story on that? I'm sure it's not "we were dancing and they arrested us".

Not sure. Can't find all the details. It's clear it was a designed protest of some kind. Designed, undoubtedly, to expose some ridiculous law or policy or something. They did that. I didn't see anyone doing anything worthy of being arrested in free country. Apparently other videos document people being threatened with arrest for videoing. Nice.

Not sure. Can't find all the details. It's clear it was a designed protest of some kind. Designed, undoubtedly, to expose some ridiculous law or policy or something. They did that. I didn't see anyone doing anything worthy of being arrested in free country. Apparently other videos document people being threatened with arrest for videoing. Nice.

More than 77,000 federal government employees throughout the country — including computer operators, more than 5,000 air traffic controllers, 22 librarians and one interior designer — earned more than the governors of the states in which they work.

In 2008, (Harry Reid) hand- delivered a $2 million check to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Research Foundation to begin construction of the "UNLV Harry Reid Research and Technology Park."

Well, at least that $2M put a lot of people to work, right?

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... The agency claimed a project in 1986 created nearly 6,000 new jobs, but later the government admitted the actual number was less than 100.

Oh.

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Multiple studies by the Government Accountability Office have found that EDA programs "did not have a significant effect," achieved "inconclusive" results, and "may even detract" from a more flexible and educated work force.

More recently, the inspector general overseeing the EDA audited 10 projects totaling $45 million between 2004 and 2008. It found that $13 million, or 29% of that money, had been wasted due to "various violations of EDA grant requirements such as financial accounting irregularities, conflicts of interest, and improper procurement procedures." Four of the 10 projects were never even completed.

In an era of "unsustainable debt" wouldn't it be a good idea to commission a study to identify such wasteful spending so as to responsibly eliminate it? Oh wait, we already did that.

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Mr. Obama's deficit commission cited these same examples of duplication and waste as reasons to eliminate the EDA completely - something Congress should immediately do.

Too bad our Narcissist-In-Chief completely ignored his own commission's recommendations. How much did that cost?

One of those front-line agents who objected, John Dodson, 39, told the Center for Public Integrity that these guns “are going to be turning up in crimes on both sides of the border for decades.” Dodson said in an interview that “with the number of guns we let walk, we’ll never know how many people were killed, raped, robbed … there is nothing we can do to round up those guns. They are gone.”

We can speculate how many people were killed as a result of this program though:

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In a March 2010 memo, ATF says it allowed gun smugglers to buy 359 guns while 958 people died in Mexico the same month. Internally, the agency was "trumpeting up the violence that was occurring as a result of an ATF sanctioned program."

Agents say the man in charge of the operation in Phoenix, "was jovial, if not giddy" when Fast and Furious guns were found in Mexico. One agent described in detail his disgust at the self-satisfaction of ATF leadership for sending guns into what they knew to be a war zone, saying, "I cannot see anyone who has one iota of concern for human life being OK with this."

JR: THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT COMPLAINS THAT THEY WERE NOT INFORMED ABOUT THE “FAST AND FURIOUS” OPERATION. DID YOU AUTHORIZE THIS OPERATION AND WAS PRESIDENT CALDERON PROPERLY INFORMED ABOUT IT?

PBO: Well, first of all I did not authorize it. Eric Holder, the Attorney General, did not authorize it. He’s been very clear that our policy is to catch gun runners and put them into jail. So what he’s done is he’s assigned an I.G., an inspector general, to investigate what exactly happened…

JR: SO WHO AUTHORIZED IT?

PBO: Well, we don’t have all the facts. That’s why the I.G. is in business. To collect the facts.

JR: AND YOU WERE NOT EVEN INFORMED ABOUT IT?

PBO: Absolutely not, this is a pretty big government, the United States government. I got a lot of moving parts.

"Some people say Fast and Furious is a good idea that was just managed poorly," the House committee's chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said. "Whether you think is good idea and badly run or just a bad idea, it's very clear this administration is not overseeing this in a way that protects the American people."

Let's see... hundreds of guns gone missing, nearly a thousand deaths attributable to them, all courtesy of the US Taxpayer.

"Managed poorly?"

How much do you want to bet the Obama administration is going to impose even more restrictive gun laws upon us as a result?

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The program came to a crashing halt in January with the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, shot by an AK-47 purchased a year earlier by Jamie Avila, a known gun smuggler who had been under ATF surveillance since November of 2009.

The report says, "The death of Border Agent Brian Terry was likely a preventable tragedy."

You think?

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Equally discouraging, the report concludes the operation itself was a failure ...

In an attempt to stem its financial hemorrhaging, the U.S. Postal Service is seeking to reduce its workforce by 20 percent, including through layoffs now prohibited by union contracts. USPS also wants to withdraw its employees from the health and retirement plans that cover federal staffers and create its own benefit programs for postal employees.

Incompetence, mismanagement, and waste on full display. I don't want these people running my healthcare...or any other aspect of my life.